


Patchwork - How To Make The Patch Work

by imapsychiatristgetlost



Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn, The New Normal
Genre: Crossover, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 06:05:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20326327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imapsychiatristgetlost/pseuds/imapsychiatristgetlost
Summary: Nobody knows who is more surprised that Whizzer decided to accept his twin brother's wedding invitation; Bryan, or Whizzer himself.What comes even more unexpected for Bryan, who hasn't talked to Whizzer in years is, that he asks to bring his boyfriend and family down to LA with him.And when secrets come to light that were never supposed to be revealed, the drama seems perfect.In other words: Chaos in the form of homosexuals, mothers with children, wiry psychiatrists, short insomniacs, yiddish Americans, spiky families, radiologists, intellectuals, nervous wrecks. *sigh*...[Falsettos/The New Normal crossover; Modern AU (Sawyer is already born in this)]





	1. «Sincerely, Whizzer»

**Author's Note:**

> Heyoo y'all!  
Just a few things I need to get rid off before you start reading this book. First of all and most importantly: I'm not writing this all by myself. The wonderful @sophtm on Wattpad is also an author of this book.  
I'll be uploading mine and her chapters in turns; the first one's written by me, the second by her and so on.  
That's it, have fun reading!

Bryan was woken up by crying. He yawned tiredly and looked first at his fiancé who was sleeping like an infant -what was ironic because their baby wasn't sleeping at the moment- and then at the alarm clock which showed that it was 2:44 am. Bryan sighed and crawled out of bed. Sawyer was always waking up around 3 am. He was only a few weeks old and within the time he was with them, Bryan had slept like half as much as usually. Goldie had even offered to come by so she could take care of Sawyer when he woke up in the middle of the night again, but David and Bryan had denied her offer; she was already doing more than enough for them. And even though Bryan was much more exhausted than he'd been ever before since Sawyer was with them, he didn't regret one second of it.  
As Bryan approached the cradle, Sawyer was still crying, so he gently took his son and rocked him fondly. He calmed down amazingly fast. When Bryan was sure Sawyer was sleeping, he lay him back down in his cradle and then himself back next to David.  
He tried to sleep, but after half an hour of just lying there with open eyes he gave up. Instead he sat up, grabbing his phone to check his emails. But there wasn't anything interesting to find; just work stuff.  
Just when Bryan was about to close the emails, he stumbled over a certain name that made him stop scrolling: Whizzer Brown. He just stared at the unopened email in astonishment. He and David had decided to invite Bryan's twin brother to their wedding, but he hadn't thought he would actually reply. They hadn't spoken in years, but since a wedding was about bounding and family, Bryan wanted to give their relationship another shot. The reason they had estranged was because his brother was always screwing around; he literally was in bed with a different guy every other night, while Bryan preferred a monogamous relationship. Whizzer had met David a few times, but he had gotten tired of him always being around after a short time. That was at least what he had told Bryan.  
Excitedly Bryan opened the email. He started reading:

_Dear Bryan and David,_  
_I'm genuinely happy for you both and fluttered you invited me to such an important occasion. Unlikely you've probably expected, I'd love to come. I may not have been a good brother all the time (or ever), but I really want to improve our relationship. Not only with you, Bryan, but also with David. I shouldn't have been so judgemental about your lifestyle. I know better now because, you know, I've settled down. Believe me or not, I have a boyfriend now. Yes, you read it correctly, I, Whizzer Brown, have a boyfriend. And also more or less a son; he's Marvin's (my boyfriend) child from his first marriage, but Marvin and his ex-wife divorced a while ago._  
_But I don't want to tell you my whole life story you probably don't even care about. If you really want to have me (us) at your wedding, we can talk then._  
_Sincerely,_  
_Whizzer_

Bryan read the email several times with his mouth open; he still couldn't believe what he'd just read. But Whizzer had made it very clear he wasn't kidding. Bryan was genuinely happy for his brother and definitely looking forward to meeting him in a more mature version.  
»Bry?« Bryan turned his look to David, who blinked at him sleepily. »Is it morning? Why are you on your phone so early? Or is it..?« »No, everything's fine, go back to sleep.« Bryan locked his phone and gave his fiancé a little peck before going back to sleep himself.


	2. «That's on the other side of the country»

"I'd love for you and Jason to come as well." Marvin didn't need to look up to know Whizzer was giving him that smile that always killed him. He finished preparing the sandwiches and handed one over to his boyfriend.

"Whizzer, you'd love for Jason and me to accompany you to a wedding held by your twin brother, who, in those two years we've been together, you haven't mentioned and talked to once. Do you know how fishy that sounds?"

"We weren't exactly on good terms. But you keep saying family is the most important thing and I should care about it more."

Marvin stayed quiet. A twin brother who is never mentioned is kind of different than him wanting Whizzer to contribute more to their family life with his son and ex-wife. However, he knew this must have been important to his boyfriend, since he didn't even correct him on the time they've been together.

"You know Trina won't allow me to take Jason to a stranger's."

Whizzer chewed on his breakfast with a pout. "Trina could come as well. We could take a family trip to LA."

"LA?" It wasn't really a question.

"Yeah, where Bryan lives."

"That's on the other side of the country."

Whizzer rolled his eyes and set his sandwich down. "I know where LA is, Marv. What's the problem? It's not like you can't afford a flight."

The problem wasn't the money. It was how Whizzer's brother came to live in California. Did Whizzer live in California? Or was he from New York? The problem was, that Marvin just noticed how he didn't know a thing about his partner. Trina always mocked them, saying gay relationships were just about the sex and physical aspects and not about the people. She hadn't said it in a while, seemingly coming to terms with her ex-husband being gay. 

But maybe she was right. All he really knew about Whizzer was that he loved racquetball and hated chess. He hated how possessive Marvin could get, but he loved the sex that came from Marvin's frustration. He loved fashion and hated Marvin's style. And he would get mad at Marvin if they hadn't had sex in some time. But other than that? 

Since a couple minutes he knew his partner had a twin brother by the name of Bryan who lived in LA and invited Whizzer to his wedding, where he was going to marry a man named David. But did Whizzer have more siblings? Was his brother Jewish? 

He slipped a weak smile onto his face and finally looked up to Whizzer. "I have to go to work. Give me some time to think about it?" He finished his breakfast and got his case. 

"What's there to think about?" Whizzer appeared behind him in the hallway. Marvin sighed.

"Whizzer, I'm not going to argue with you at seven in the morning. Let me go to work, overthink this, talk to Jason and Trina and then I'm going to tell you if we're gonna do this or not." He heard his boyfriend huff before he closed the door on him and headed to his car.


	3. «You obviously won't go»

»Did you hear that everyone's turning gay?« Mendel turned his look to his wife who was aggressively working out, like she always did when something bothered her. »No, sweetie, but I don't think that is even a thing«, he tried to calm her. »Then explain to me why my gay ex-husband told me he wants to go to his gay lover's gay twin brother's gay wedding!« Each time Trina said the word gay, she punched the air with her fist; Mendel doubted that this was even a workout exercise anymore.  
»And even worse, they wanna take Jason with them!« Mendel sighed. »You know, babe, I actually think that sounds like a good idea. Jason would get to meet many people. Maybe he could even make new friends.« »Probably gay friends«, Trina huffed. Ignoring that comment, Mendel approached Trina and hugged her from behind, placing soft kisses on her head. »Drop it, sweetheart«, he whispered into her ear. A little calmed, she stopped working out, leaned her head back and rested it on Mendel's shoulder, which wasn't very comfortable given she was taller than him. Though she clearly enjoyed her husband's company and appreciated his attempt to make her feel better. 

»I'm gonna pick Jason up from school«, she mumbled after a while. Mendel looked confused. »But today is Wednesday, Marvin and Whizzer take him to baseball training right after school.« Trina shook her head. »Not today. I want to speak with him before they offer Jason to go to that wedding.« Mendel didn't think it was a good idea to interfere in Jason's and Marvin's relationship like that, but he also knew how firm Trina was when it came to her son, so he remained silent. 

~~~

»Jason!«, Trina shouted when she saw her son who was obviously looking for someone to pick him up; except he was expecting someone else than Trina. With a partly confused, partly mad look on his face Jason approached his mother. »Why are you here? I thought Dad would pi-« »Get in the car, I need to talk to you«, Trina interrupted him. Jason was a little scared, but he hadn't done anything wrong as far as he could remember, so there was no reason to be.  
After a few silent minutes of driving, Trina started: »Your Dad and Whizzer want to go with you to Whizzer's brother's wedding. To LA.« This excited Jason, but the fact that his mother picked him up just to talk about this let his excitement fade; this couldn't mean anything good. »So...?«, he asked. »I called them and told them I'd talk to you about this.« »And this means...?«, Jason went on with a little hope. »You obviously won't go.« »But-« »No buts! I can't let such a careless man like your Dad take care of you for so long.« Trina paused before she continued: »They offered me to also come, but-« »Then why don't you?« This time Jason was the one interrupting. »I'd be a great opportunity to meet new people.« Trina sighed. »That's what Mendel said. But since when a are you keen on meeting new people?« Jason remained silent. »Of course, you aren't«, Trina mumbled more to herself. »Then why do you even want to go?« She looked at her som through the rearview mirror. »I mean, I'd really like to spend more time with my... dads«, Jason replied silently. »Wow.« Trina looked at the street, then back to Jason who had his head down and back at the street. »So you'd rather spend time with your disloyal dad and his boyfriend than with your mother who took care of you all the time and your actual stepfather?« »Don't try to make me feel guilty!« Jason almost screamed. »I love you and Mendel but I also love my Dad and Whizzer and I've never gone on vacation with them nor spent at least more than a weekend with them!« Jason felt tears in his eyes but wiped them away immediately. »Watch your tone«, Trina said, but it didn't sound convincing; she hated to admit it but Jason was right. He was most of the time, but even in such sensitive situations he had valid arguments and never just freaked out.  
»I'll... think about it«, Trina eventually said.


	4. «We'll just kidnap you and bring you along»

"Where were you?" Marvin exclaimed as soon as his son stepped onto the parking lot. "We've been waiting at your school for hours." 

Whizzer pushed his sunglasses back and patted Marvin on the arm. "A little overdramatic. It was maybe twenty minutes." Jason didn't seem too upset with his father yelling at him. He just followed them into the car, mumbling out an apology about how he forgot to text them he was already at baseball practice.

"What do you have your phone for then?" 

Whizzer kept his hand on Marvin's thigh to calm him down as he was speeding out of the parking lot, casually opening the car's windows, since Jason insisted on showering at home after practice. 

"Mom drove me to baseball. She told me about the wedding."

Whizzer turned back to look at the boy. "Did she? I wanted to do that. It's my brother."

"What did she say?" Marvin asked absent minded.

"She says she'll think about it. But I really want to go. I want to meet my new uncles." 

Whizzer's heart fluttered at that statement and a smile formed on his face. "We'll just kidnap you and bring you along if she says no."

Marvin sighed. "Whizzer, I don't think that'll help our case." 

They arrived at Trina's house. Unlike usually, they all got out of the car and followed Jason in. It smelled strongly like freshly cooked meal. Whizzer wondered if Marvin ever missed coming home to this. He shouldn't be jealous of Trina, but he couldn't help it. For the first year of their relationship Marvin had tried to fit him into the role that Trina so perfectly inhabited and even if he promised not to force Whizzer into stereotypes and gender roles anymore, that didn't mean he would never long for Whizzer to be the housewife.

Trina put the food on the already set table and everyone gathered around it. 

"You could have told me you were driving Jason", Marvin started. Whizzer huffed. The man really had a way with words, maybe not a good one but a way. 

"Calm down Marv, nothing happened, Jason wasn't kidnapped and killed. He's here." He turned his attention to Trina. "Back to what we came here for: my brother's wedding. I understand your doubts, but this is really important to me and I'd love to take Jason with us, since we are a family."

"I said I needed to think about it." Trina shot him a glare he last saw when she caught them in the den. He smiled.

"Yeah, and I came here to help you think. They've invited us to come earlier than the other guests. That would be in two weeks then, when the holidays start. And I'm pretty sure they can arrange me bringing all of you."

"I never asked to go to that gay wedding." Trina said. Mendel gave her a disappointed look.

Whizzer kept his smile. "You don't have to go to the wedding, you can just enjoy your stay in LA."

Jason chuckled. "That rhymed."

"Spitting bars." Whizzer threw up a gang sign. 

Jason's eyes widened. "Please, never do that again. It makes me want to drink bleach."

Their bickering was interrupted by Marvin laying his silverware down on his plate. "Actually, you know what Trina? Jason is not just your child, he's mine, too. If he wants to go with us you can't just decide he won't. You can't make all decisions yourself."

It shocked Whizzer a little how hard Marvin was fighting for their trip all of a sudden. It showed him how real the situation was. If it was for him, he would have probably cancelled his trip last minute, but if Marvin wanted to go as well, it wouldn't be that easy. He couldn't just tell him he was sick or something important was happening and he needed to stay in New York. He couldn't simply make up a lie like he had done for his brother ever since his last visit almost eight years ago. Maybe he would even have to tell Marvin why he would make excuses to not see his brother and he wasn't really sure he could do that.

Marvin's words seemed to have worked on Trina and with a little bit of help from Mendel, she agreed for Jason to go. She would think about whether she wanted to come along or not. All in all, a what Marvin deemed productive and Whizzer deemed anxiety-inducing dinner.


	5. «I'm okay with it»

Dear Whizzer,  
you're actually right, I am surprised by your response, but that doesn't mean I'm not just as happy about it. Of course you can bring your boyfriend and more or less son if you want to; I (we) would actually love to meet them. There surely is a lot to catch up on, so why don't you come by a few days earlier so we won't be like total strangers. I must confess I haven't talked to David about you coming yet; he only agreed on inviting you because he was sure you wouldn't care a wit to actually come, though he'd never say that out loud, but I know him well enough. Anyways, enough about me, please let me know about your opinion on the listed things.  
Love, Bryan

Bryan read the email several times and changed little things before sending it; he wanted his words to sound perfect so Whizzer wouldn't just reject out of a sudden; though Whizzer wasn't really the guy who cared about words.  
After that Bryan got out of bed to eat breakfast. David was already done because he had eaten when Sawyer was hungry and that had been at 6 o'clock in the morning. Bryan didn't even know how David could have been hungry that early.  
»Hey, baby«, David said with a smile when Bryan entered the dining room. Bryan looked amazed at the table full of breakfast. »Did you just not care to clean up table after eating or...?« »Jerk«, David replied, still smiling. Bryan sat down in front of David and started eating. It was silent most of the time, only sound of chewing was to be heard.  
»You know we agreed on inviting Whizzer to our wedding, right?«, Bryan broke the silence after a while. »Yeah«, David said with a questioning look. »So?« »How would you react if I told you that -just hypothetically- he wants to come?« »He what?!« David almost choked. »Just hypothetically!« Bryan stated, but not convincing. »Why would he... you two haven't talked in years, right?« »I know David, but please, listen-« »You can't seriously be considering to let him come?« »We can't just un-invite him!« »Yes, we can«, David huffed. »For something of this importance we can.« Bryan didn't want to play this card, but he saw no other option. »Well, I've already written him how happy we are that he's coming.« »What?!« David frowned. »Are you kidding?« »Most certainly not.«  
Bryan showed his fiancé Whizzer's email and his response to it. »Then... I'll write him that he isn't welcomed.« »David!«, Bryan shouted out. »You're behaving ridiculous. It's not like he's ever done anything wrong. We've just unfortunately estranged for no particular reason, why not at least try to become close again?« David was silent for a short while.  
»So you want him to arrive before the other guests?«, he eventually said. Bryan nodded. David sighed. »Just... call him and tell him I'm okay with it.« »It?« »Just, you know, bringing like his whole family...« Bryan beamed. »Love you, babe«, he said happily and gave his fiancé a kiss on the cheek before running back to their room. David shook his head in amusement; he in fact wasn't so upset about Whizzer coming, it just had always been weird for him having another man that looked like his boyfriend around.

»Shania, sweetie, could you please look after Sawyer until I'm back? I won't be away too long, I just need to buy some food, I totally forgot to- Oh, hi Bryan and David!« Goldie had babbled all of this with open front door; she apparently had been talking to Shania, but Bryan and David who had just arrived at her door had heard everything. »You seem tired. Come on in and get some rest; we'll bring you some food over.«  
That David was inviting Goldie into her own apartment didn't bother her that much at the moment. She was just grateful for the boys understanding and kindness.  
»I'm so sorry-«, Goldie started when they were in the living room, but Bryan interrupted her. »No apologies for being tired«, he said. »As David told you already: We'll take care if everything that needs to be done the rest of the day, you just rest.« Goldie sank into the couch and her eyes fell shut immediately.  
David was going back to their house to bring Goldie the promised food while Bryan was looking for Shania and Sawyer. He found them quickly in Shania's room, sitting on the floor and playing with Shania's dolls.  
»Hey, kids!«, Bryan greeted his son and Goldie's daughter. Shania immediately jumped to hug Bryan tightly while Sawyer was just lying on the ground like before. Bryan doubted that he really had been playing with Shania; he was more likely just lying around all the time and Shania was more or less talking to him. Of course that made Bryan happy, bur he also felt a little bad for Shania. She only had a few weeks old infant to play with because she didn't had any friends her age. That sounded meaner than it actually was; Shania herself always said that she didn't want any shallow people as her friends what didn't left many people. 

»I'm okay with it«, David murmured when they had gone to sleep. »What?«, Bryan asked, turning to his fiancé. »Your brother coming to the wedding«, David explained. Bryan smiled widely. »Thanks. I love you.« »Love you, too.« Then they both fell asleep.


	6. «There will always be assholes»

Charlotte wanted to tell her girlfriend the good news. In fact, she had been waiting the entire day to get home from work. Right now, consoling Cordelia was more important though. She was already a mess when Charlotte stepped through the door. She didn't waste any time fetching a box of ice cream and tissues before settling Cordelia in her arms on the couch.

With time her sniffles became more quiet. "I lost a really well paying job today."

Charlotte brushed through Cordelia's hair. "That usually doesn't upset you that much."

"No, it doesn't." She forced a smile. "It's just the reason they decided I shouldn't cater at their wedding. They said they'd rather not have a gay person at the ceremony. Can you believe it's the 2010's and people still think like that?"

Charlotte wiped a year away for her lover. "People can suck sometimes. But you don't need to tell them you're gay. It's not vital to your job."

Cordelia jumped up. "I don't! I just have normal conversations like everyone else does. They asked me what cake I would recommend for their wedding and I told them about the conversation we had and that we agreed on strawberry cake and that was it. Apparently, dropping the term 'girlfriend' was enough for them to get uncomfortable."

"You didn't have to mention me."

"No, I didn't, but straight people never have to walk on eggshells when they're talking. I feel like I shouldn't have to either. I don't want to stop and find another term for you in the middle of a sentence because some people are homophobic. I shouldn't adapt to people that are wrong."

Charlotte pulled her back into her lap. "There will always be assholes, Delia. You have to learn how to deal with them."

"What part of 'I am not going to adapt to assholes' didn't you understand? Talking is part of my job. Unlike you I can't hide behind diagnosis and a white coat and never mention anything that is going on in my life."

"Yes. I'm sorry." Charlotte said.

"What did you want to tell me?" 

Charlotte raised her eyebrows. "Nothing."

"When you came in you said you had news."

"No, it's nothing."

Cordelia put on a stern face. "Relationships are about trust and conversation. Tell me."

"Fine. The AMA have invited me to talk about my recent research in California. It's a really big stepping stone in my career, I could find a lot of potential investors. So I wanted to take you down to a little holiday."

Cordelia grinned. "That's great! I'm up for a holiday. What was so hard about telling me?"

"I thought you might not be in the mood to hear that after losing a promising offer." Since you are insecure about our income differences and career status anyway and I didn't want to rub anything in, was what Charlotte added in her mind. She almost didn't catch how Cordelia's smile dropped for the blink of an eye.

"No, that made my day!"

~~~

"Everyone got their bags? Where's Mendel?"

"Right here!"

"Oh sorry, I forgot how short you are. Jason, do you need help with that bag?"

"No, I can do it myself."

"Ok, kiddo." Marvin fell into the seat next to Whizzer, who was fixing his hair in the reflection on his sunglasses. "Remind me to arrive at the airport earlier next time."

"Don't worry, will do. I'm not keen on ruining my looks by running to the gate every time." 

"You, look great, Whizzer."

"Unlike you, my brother is pretty fashionable as well. Just need to remind him who the better looking twin is."

"Even if you ran through a jungle for a month, you would still look the best."

"I doubt that. Sweat stains show on sheer shirts."

Marvin laughed and rested his head on Whizzer's shoulder. "I'm so excited to meet your family, Whiz."

"Well, it's just gonna be my brother and my mom. And I'm pretty sure once you meet her you'll be excited to go back home." Once Whizzer was done cuffing his sleeves up he placed his arm around Marvin and gave him a kiss. "I'm glad you're coming with me. A little less glad about Trina and Mendel, but I guess that is the price for being your boyfriend."

"It's not that bad. Trina will probably want to sightsee instead of hanging around her gay ex-husband's gay lover's gay brother." Marvin pressed his face in the crook of Whizzer's neck. "She's never been to LA." 

"Trust me, there's not much to see. At least for her. We should definitely visit some of the gay bars."

"I'd rather stay in with you."

"We all need to leave our comfort zone from time to time. Nobody knows you there, just live."

"Not the reason I wanted to stay in." Marvin wiggled his eyebrows.

Whizzer smirked. "You know there's public bathrooms." Whizzer's chair was kicked forward and Jason's head appeared between the seats.

"Gross. When I said I wanted to spend more time with you I didn't mean I wanted to hear stuff like that."

Marvin ruffled his son's hair. "Put your music on and don't be that seat-kicking kid everyone hates." From between the seats he could see Trina already dosing off against Mendel, who decided to have his third cup of coffee that day. He turned back to Whizzer. "I've never been in LA either. Have you?"

"Obviously. Very fashionable, very free-spirited, very gay. I loved it, but it's a little hot for my sheer shirts. Don't know how Bryan can even think about wearing sweaters. Also, if you're lucky you might meet Kim Kardashian at the grocery store." Whizzer was scrolling through his Instagram. Marvin put his head back on Whizzer and traced patterns onto his chest. "Scared to meet them?" Whizzer piped up.

"I had to introduce myself to Trina's family, nothing can scare me now. Are you?"

Whizzer knew it was a sarcastic question, but he nodded. It's been a while. If Marvin didn't drag his whole family with him he would have found an excuse to stay in New York already.


	7. «You'll get used to new things»

»Are you sure you wanna stay here?«, Bryan asked for the fourth time. »I told you, it's alright«, Goldie replied. »It would be too much stress for everyone to take Sawyer on an half hour car ride, it's better if I stay here with him.« »Thanks Goldie, we love you«, David said, placing a kiss on her cheek before following Shania, who was already waiting in the big car they had rented. Whizzer had offered to just take a taxi, but Bryan had insisted on picking them up at the airport. 

»Cause all that it takes is a little reinvention, it's easy to change if you give it your attention...« David sighed and tried to blend out Bryan and Shania who were singing along to musical songs the entire drive long. He should have known this was gonna happen, but he was naive enough believing it was gonna be a calm drive. 

They finally arrived after 30 minutes, that had felt like hours for David and like minutes for Bryan and Shania, who immediately jumped out if the car, while David had to find a free space in the parking lot. When the car was at last parked, David found Bryan and Shania excitedly waving a approaching group of people. David immediately recognized Whizzer who still looked exactly like his fiancé; not only he had the same face and build but also a very similar style. Very gay.

After they had all shaken hands and awkwardly smiled at each other the whole time, Bryan and Whizzer started introducing everyone. Not that anyone could remember more than like one name and maybe their relationship to the twins.  
When everyone was eventually sitting in the car there was this awkward silence. Shania fortunately broke it before anyone would even consider that anyone should just get back to from where their came.  
»How about some music?«, she asked though it was more of an announcement. She took Bryan's phone on which was literally every original broadway cast recording she knew and even more downloaded -for some reason Shania knew Bryan's passcode that not even David knew- and shuffled A New Brain. »You like musicals, too?«, Jason said, beaming, as the first notes of Heart and Music went on. »Like?«, Shania replied. »You mean love!« The kids beamed at each other for a second and then started singing along to the music. Bryan couldn't help himself but join in singing.  
At least the silence was gone, but especially Marvin felt even more uncomfortable. He was by far the oldest and musicals really weren't his kind of business. He already felt none connection to these people, though it were only three of them. But what if everyone in this family was like that? Marvin didn't even know who exactly they were going to meet. Was it only family, or friends? And what could he even talk about with them? Marvin hadn't even thought about any of this before, but all of it was suddenly so real. Of course he wanted to make a good impression; after all it was his boyfriend's family. But what if it just didn't work out?

»Hey.« Marvin almost flinched when he felt fingers laced between his own. He looked up and directly into Whizzer's eyes, who softly smiled at him. »You are overthinking«, he said in a calming voice. »How did you kn-« »Lucky guess.« Marvin shook his head, but smiled back. »It's just... all so different from what I'm used to.« »I get that«, Whizzer said, and he sounded genuinely. »You'll get used to new things. Promise.«


	8. «Maybe he has AIDS»

Marvin was glad to find that this doorway led back to the kitchen where they started the tour of the house. It was so much bigger from the inside than it looked from the outside. It was a mystery how the architect managed to get all the rooms under the roof.

"This is huge. How many people live here again?" Marvin slid onto one of the bar stools.

David got some beers out of the fridge, which Marvin gladly accepted. "Bryan, Sawyer and me. Goldie and Shania live in that house over there." 

"Don't worry, you'll get used to the size in no time", Bryan said, leaning over the counter.

Marvin raised his eyebrows. "Was this a really bad gay pun?" Bryan smirked, but said nothing.

"Actually," Whizzer spoke up, "our old place is not that much smaller."

"You mean Trina's house?" Marvin said.

"Yeah, our old place." Whizzer placed a hand on Marvin's thigh and turned his attention back to Bryan. "He's rich, too, you know?"

A scream followed by laughter interrupted the awkward silence the group fell into after Whizzer's statement and soon enough Jason stomped into the living room. Shania laughed behind him, Sawyer in her arms.

"He drooled on me!" When none of the adults reacted, Jason rushed over to the paper towels himself and began to dry off a small stain on his shirt.

Shania rolled her eyes. "It's drool, not some deadly virus."

"How can you know? Maybe he has AIDS?" 

You could hear a pin drop. Marvin was pretty sure the collar didn't feel as tight around his throat when he put the shirt on. And did someone turn the heat up? He never hung around many other gays and even when Whizzer told him AIDS was no joking matter, he didn't listen to him. Now he knew what his boyfriend meant by inappropriate. He was ashamed that it took his own son making a joke of that sort in front of other gay people, who would soon be his family, to realize how bad it came off. Did Jason joke though? Or did he really think everyone who was around gay people was automatically at risk for HIV? The silence had stretched out for way too long for Marvin to come off as sincere, but he had to say something. "Jason, you don't make jokes like that..."

Shania piped up: "I thought, since you had two gay dads and were a fan of musicals, you wouldn't be so homophobic, but seems, we're all wrong about something. For me, it's you; for you it's the stupid views you hold." 

Marvin couldn't believe a little girl could stand up better to his son, who was staring back at her, thankfully at a loss of words, than he could. He had publicly failed at being a decent one to many times in one day. There was a burning wish inside him, to throw himself down the Kings Canyon. He cleared his throat carefully. "I think we should head back to the hotel. It's getting late and we agreed to have dinner with Trina and Mendel." 

On the way back, he felt Whizzer squeeze his clammy hand. So much for getting used to the new environment. Marvin couldn't wait to get back to New York.


	9. «I think you're really cool»

The house was filled with an awkward silence for the rest of the evening. It was not like anyone intended to be quiet; it was just that no one knew what to say. Really no one had expected Marvin's son to be one of those people. But could anyone blame him though?  
David doubted that he'd ever been really taught anything about HIV and AIDS and what it meant. He probably didn't know how offensive a joke like that was. But Bryan had been really upset about it and even though he hadn't have let Whizzer and Marvin see it, he certainly had let David feel it.

»I can't believe my brother raised such a brat!«, Bryan had almost shouted, raging. »Bryan, please, calm down. It's not like Whizzer raised him-« »That doesn't excuse his behavior!« »I know, all I'm trying to say is-« »Shania is totally right. The thing I was wrong about was inviting Whizzer and his family.« »Bryan!« Bryan could think what he wanted about his family, but saying that out loud was really too much. »I'm sorry«, Bryan mumbled, but he didn't sound genuine. His eye-rolling only reinforced that.

»Shania?« »Yeah?«The little girl was sitting on the couch in Bryan and David's living room, next to her mother. »Can we talk for a sec?« Shania narrowed her eyes in confusion, but nodded. »Sure.« David looked at Goldie, who understood and got up. »I'll go look after Sawyer.« »He's already asleep, Ma«, Shania interjected, but Goldie ignored her.

»So, what's up?«, Shania asked as David had placed himself next to her. »It's sorta about Jason and Bryan and Whizzer and kinda everyone.« He paused, but when Shania didn't say anything, he continued. »Bryan just told me he thinks inviting Whizzer was a bad idea, and all of that just because of the little joke Jason made.« »I mean, it wasn't "just a little joke", but I get your point«, Shania said slowly. »I think Bryan just overreacted, he'll certainly will feel different about it tomorrow.« »You think so?«, David dug deeper. He wanted to believe her, but he feared that Shania was just trying to make him feel better.  
Shania nodded, so David eventually hugged her and whispered a »Thank you«. He probably should go to sleep and see what the next day would bring.

~~~

»I can't believe I agreed on doing this«, Trina said when they all had come together for dinner. Everyone looked at her and Marvin replied: »Why? No cooking, doing the laundry, or taking care of Jason.« »Yeah, I know.« Trina smiled. »I wasn't complaining.« Mendel leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek. »Well, you still have to take care of one child«, Whizzer interfered. Jason giggled and gave him a high-five.

»So, do you think they like me?«, Marvin whispered when everyone was distracted eating. He obviously was talking about Bryan and David.  
»Why wouldn't they?« Whizzer looked at him and narrowed his eyes. »Don't be so anxious, Marvin.« Whizzer realized how unhelpful that was, but he wanted to at least say something.  
»I mean, I didn't leave a good impression on them. They probably think I raised my own child so bad that they won't let me near their-« »Marvin«, Whizzer cut him off. »It'll be fine. You'll be fine.«

~~~

_Dear Shania,_   
_I wanted to say sorry. I've thougt about what you said and I get now that it was wrong of me to say what I said. I don't want to loose you over such an unfortunate incident because I think you're really cool._   
_Jason_

Jason clicked send. He was actually really proud of the message. Usually he didn't write people long texts so this was kind of thrilling for him. He really hoped Shania would reply with something positive.  
Jason waited for like five minutes, but Shania hadn't even seen the message by that time, so Jason opened YouTube and scrolled through his bootleg playlist. There were many bootlegs he wanted to watch but hadn't so far, but he couldn't decide which of these to watch so he ended up watching Firebringer for the, like, hundredth time.


End file.
